Once a practice-squad long shot, Geno Stone has emerged as NFL's unlikely interception king

OWINGS MILLS, Md. – On the day Gary Stone died, he rang his nephew, Baltimore Ravens safety Geno Stone. The call woke Geno, and they continued talking as Geno drove to the Ravens’ facility to pick up some things for his home.

“That was the last time I talked to him,” Stone said.

Stone and his uncle, Gary, the brother of his mother, Erin, were close from the day he was born; Stone’s birth father wasn’t in his life, and along with his grandmother, the four formed a family unit. Taking Geno to his youth sporting events, Gary told Geno he was going to be the one to make it out of New Castle, Pennsylvania, and reach the big time.

As his athletic career progressed from being a three-sport athlete at New Castle Senior High to playing defensive back at the University of Iowa and then the NFL, Geno Stone said Gary would often forward him the links to articles that mentioned Stone.

“I was like, ‘Hey, I don’t want to see that stuff,’” Stone told USA TODAY Sports. “Now I wish I could get them articles he’d be sending me.”

And there has been more ink spilled about Stone than ever these past two months. Entering Week 10, no player in the league has intercepted more passes than Stone, who has six – not bad considering he wasn’t even a part of the Ravens’ starting secondary when the season began.

Gary also always told Geno that one day his opportunity would come, and that he’d have to make the most of it when it arrived.

“I feel like I’ve done a pretty good job of that so far,” Stone said. “There will be more opportunities to come to me. So I feel like I just got to keep doing what I’m doing.”

Making history while proving people wrong

After the Ravens drubbed the Seattle Seahawks last Sunday, Stone wore a purple hoodie with the face of former Ravens safety and Pro Football Hall of Famer Ed Reed on the front. The franchise legend messaged Stone later that day.

“He told me to kind of keep doing what I’m doing,” Stone said. “He told me to reach out to him if I ever needed anything, so that was pretty cool, to get that text from him.”

For all of the elite defenders to wear a Ravens jersey, nobody has picked off more passes through the first nine games of a season than Stone – even Reed, who holds the Ravens’ single-season interception record with nine, doing so twice.

The props from Reed meant a lot to Stone, who – like many others – considers Reed the greatest safety of all time.

“Everybody expects that when I get a pick, I should be cribbin’ it,” Stone said, referring to the returns for touchdowns for which Reed became famous. “He’s definitely set the standard for the safety position … hard shoes to fill.”

Stone has intercepted a pass in four straight games. An interception against the Cleveland Browns would tie the franchise record set in 1996 by Eric Turner.

Following the Seahawks game, Stone was quick to remind the media that he had 10 interceptions his senior season at New Castle. His coach, Joe Cowart, said that is more of an accomplishment than it sounds.

“Even though teams throw the ball now – but still, high school football, you don’t see a lot of footballs in the air,” Cowart told USA TODAY Sports. “So for a guy to have 10 interceptions in one season is phenomenal.”

Cowart also noted that Stone had six picks the year prior.

“He’s accustomed to stealing passes,” said Cowart, who coached at New Castle from 2012-2021. “It’s just something he had a knack for. He just has an amazing feel for the game, great vision.”

College recruiters failed to see that, though. Perhaps they disregarded him as a prospect because of his size, listed at 5-foot-11 and 210 pounds now. Three or four Power Five schools showed interest and promised that an offer was coming, Cowart said. It never did – until Iowa, needing a defensive back in that recruiting cycle, heard about him. Stone flipped his commitment from Kent State to the Hawkeyes and “he made that place home.”

“Geno is of that nature – whatever it is, he has a steely determination that says, ‘I know I can do it. I will prove it when given my opportunity,’” Cowart said.

Stone played high school football with Marcus Hooker, the younger brother of Dallas Cowboys safety Malik Hooker, a 2017 first-round pick by the Indianapolis Colts. Stone said he’s close with both brothers, and Malik set the standard for safeties from New Castle.

“So I just wanted to follow in his footsteps,” he said.

Cowart called Stone “a thermostat guy” – somebody who sets the temperature of the room. His demeanor from the time he was a teenager signaled that he had pro potential.

“Geno is just so, so strong-willed and strong-minded that he said, ‘Well, if it’s possible, I’m going to do it,’” Cowart said. “And I think he’s proving that with an exclamation point.

“All those strange, broken roads, where he was undervalued or misinterpreted, all those things did was, ‘Another guy to prove wrong. Another person to let know I am the guy.’ And that’s been very awesome to see.”

From practice squad to 'playmaker'

Baltimore selected Stone, who left college after three seasons, with the fifth pick of the seventh round in 2020. His prospect grade on NFL.com rated him as a “candidate for bottom of roster or practice squad.”

The analysis proved true for the first stretch of his NFL career. Stone initially made the Ravens’ 53-man roster in 2020 but was waived and brought back on the practice squad. He was waived again the next month and signed with the Houston Texans.

“It’s like getting fired from any other job,” Stone said. “You got to take it on the chin, but at the end of the day, figure out a way to come back to work.”

After the season, he asked for his release from Houston after not appearing in a game for the team. Stone knew where he wanted to be. He appeared in 15 games in 2021 and all 17 the next season, starting seven.

“Players grow. Geno was a really good player last year, too," Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said. "He played really well last year. The ball’s finding him. He’s finding the ball. I guess, probably, all of it goes together."

Harbaugh added: “To make the plays, you have to be a playmaker. … Geno has established himself as a playmaker this year, and that’s really great to see.”

Playing time has never been a guarantee for Stone. This season, he’s started six of nine games with free safety Marcus Williams battling injuries. Kyle Hamilton is enjoying a solid second season in the league at the strong safety spot. But defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald’s scheme allows for versatility. All three could find themselves on the field at once, with Williams expected to return Sunday against Cleveland.

“It's cool to see him finally be able to showcase his skills that we’ve all known that he’s had all along,” said Hamilton, one of Stone’s closest friends on the team. “It's just the way the roster has worked out the past couple years, he’s been called upon to come fill in, whether it be injury or when we need him in a spot or whatever, and he’s done it. He’s done really well. He's leading the league in picks, and I think he can get a lot more, so it’s dope to see.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How Ravens' Geno Stone went from 7th-rounder to NFL interception king